We Can’t Make It Here by James McMurtry Lyric and Guitar Chords

I can’t remember who did this, but it was one fo the old tabs on here

Capo 5

Intro:
D Cadd9 G 4 times

There’s a

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign [Cadd9/B]sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze, [Cadd9/B]one leg missing and both hands free
No one’s paying much mind to him, the [Cadd9/B]V.A. budget’s just stretched so thin
And there’s more comin’ home from the Mideast war, we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

And that big ol’ building was the textile mill, it [Cadd9/B]fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors, we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

See those pallets piled up on the loading dock, they’re [Cadd9/B]just gonna set there till they rot
‘Cause there’s nothing to ship, nothing to pack, just [Cadd9/B]busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square, there’s a [Cadd9/B]needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don’t come down here ‘less you’re looking to score, we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

The bar’s still open but man it’s slow, the [Cadd9/B]tip jar’s light and the register’s low
The bartender don’t have much to say, the [Cadd9/B]regular crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards, some are [Cadd9/B]working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage don’t pay for a roof, don’t [Cadd9/B]pay for a drink, if you gotta have proof
Just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how [Cadd9/B]far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores I bet you [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

And there’s a

high school girl with a bourgeois dream, [Cadd9/B]just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the Laundromat, a [Cadd9/B]woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what’ll she do, for[Cadd9/B]get the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope, [Cadd9/B]high on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it’s way too late to just say no, you [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

Now I’m stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store [Cadd9/B]just like the ones we made before
‘Cept this one came from Singapore, I guess we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin or the [Cadd9/B]shape of their eyes or the shape I’m in
Should I hate ’em for having our jobs today, no I [Cadd9/B]hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams, all [Cadd9/B]lily white and squeaky clean
They’ve never known want, they’ll never know need, their [Cadd9/B]st don’t stink and their kids won’t bleed
Their kids won’t bleed in the damn little war and we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore

Will

work for food, will die for oil, will [Cadd9/B]kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax, the [Cadd9/B]working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let ’em eat jellybeans, let ’em eat cake, [Cadd9/B]let ’em eat st, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps if [Cadd9/B]they can’t make it here anymore

And

that’s how it is, that’s what we got if the [Cadd9/B]president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall, [Cadd9/B]hear it on the wind, if you’re listening at all
Get out of that limo, look us in the eye, [Cadd9/B]call us on the cell phone, tell us all why
In Dayton, Ohio or Portland, Maine or a [Cadd9/B]cotton gin out on the great high plains
That’s done closed down along with the school and the [Cadd9/B]hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat, there’s [Cadd9/B]rats in the alley and trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door, we [Cadd9/B]can’t make it here anymore